


a shoulder to lean on

by ptxftstark



Category: MCU, Marvel, Steve/Tony - Fandom
Genre: Domestic Avengers, Fluff, M/M, Tony needs a nap, platonic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-27
Updated: 2019-10-27
Packaged: 2021-01-04 06:06:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21192803
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ptxftstark/pseuds/ptxftstark
Summary: tony falls asleep on steve’s shoulder after a difficult mission and, despite some teasing from his teammates, steve couldn’t mind less. pre-relationship stevetony.





	a shoulder to lean on

**Author's Note:**

> a short one shot after an idea i had that could pretty realistically be canon in the mcu and it just made me smile :) ... this takes place some time between avengers 1 and age of ultron

the team loaded onto the jet after another successful mission, but this one wasn’t an easy victory. the battle had lasted hours, ask any of them who it was against at the moment and none of them could answer. too tired to think, everything’s a haze.

they had been called in to germany to complete the mission, so the next few hours would be spent in the same place. a better place than any to catch up on some well deserved rest. 

the atmosphere in the dark jet was calm, everyone  
becoming silent immediately upon entry. the sun had just begin to set over the horizon, the sky just as ready to crawl into bed. nobody dared to speak, you never annoy natasha when she’s THIS tired, or you may lose a finger. clint almost learned that the hard way last time they went overseas.

slumping onto the first surfaces they could find, nat, clint, bruce, thor, and tony started to drift off on contact. thor chose the floor against the wall, directly by the doorway. bruce found a chair a few feet away, natasha on the floor leaning against his legs, and clint in the chair across from the pair. then there was tony, on a long bench against the opposite wall. 

“good work out there everyone! i think we should take these next few hours to go over what didn’t work, and what strategies we could use to-“

“steve if one more word comes out of your mouth i will literally cut your hand off.”

the serum allowed steve to keep up an otherworldly stamina, aka, he was still chipper and full of energy. the squad hated him for that. with a passion. 

“right... sorry. i always forget that. usually thor is right up here with me but...” he gestured to the floor, where thor was calmly asleep, cuddling mjolnir in his arms like a teddy bear. 

“you all must be tired, so please, get some rest. good work today.”

placing his shield carefully onto the ground, steve walked over to the bench where tony was sitting. tony was the most tired out of all of them because, in true stark fashion, he only ever slept when his body FORCED him to. he had probably been up for 2 days prior to this mission, and if even thor was drained, a mortal like tony didn’t stand a chance. 

steve scanned the room, making sure everyone’s injuries had been taken care of prior to entering the loft area of the jet. before he could even consider resting he had to make sure his team was okay. as always.

suddenly, a weight fell onto his shoulder. startled, he looked down, only to see matted brunette hair facing up at him. steve couldn’t help but smile, tony had completely passed out. usually stark would be too uncomfortable to even touch anyone else, let alone fall asleep on them. the second he woke up he would completely freak out, probably hide in his lab all day until he ran out of food to avoid any akward confrontation. you know, the healthy thing to do. 

steve could finally breathe a sigh of relief, as tony was finally getting rest. he worried. he would do the same for any of his teammates, but tony especially always seems to be hurt or unhappy. steve sometimes couldn’t help but feel guilty for not being able to help him more. 

but for now, the least he could do was offer tony a shoulder to lean on. literally. drifting further into his deep sleep, the smaller man would continuously fall forward a bit, losing balance. slowly and reluctantly, steve slid his hand to tony’s shoulder, repositioning him and offering support. even when tony was unconscious steve worried about making him feel uncomfortable. they had just finally started to get closer, and he wouldnt change that for the world.

steve allowed his hand to just rest on tony’s shoulder, arm around him, thumb every so often making involuntay calming motions on his forearm. 

after about an hour of sitting in the calm silence, steve felt his eyes grow heavy. he placed his head on the wall behind him and nearly drifted off, until he heard a slight gasp.

“are you two... cuddling?” said natasha.

“what? no i-“

“nat be nice! i think its sweet.” bruce interrupted

“gay.” clint added.

“clint!”

“what’s all the commotion?” thor asked from the other side of the room.

“it’s nothing, now-“

“steve and tony are in love, that’s what.” natasha, despite her background, was occasionally a school girl at heart.

“HUZZAH!”

“alright that’s!-“ steve felt his voice start to rise in frustration, but glanced at the (thankfully) still asleep man in his arm and caught himself. “that’s enough! now whatever you must say just... just say it quietly? he never sleeps anymore...”

“ok ok ok... so what’s actually going on? are you two.... you know...”

“fucking?” 

“CLINT. no, tony and i are not.... doing that. he simply looked so uncomfortable trying to sleep over here and needed someone to lean on. i’d do it for any one of you! no if you could let him be i don’t know how long this will last and i want him to not pass out again.”

the group shared glances, unsure of what to say next. 

“we’re just giving you a hard time, steve,” said nat, “we know you’re just being a friend. i’m glad you guys are comfortable around eachother now.”

“thank you. and... sorry. i just don’t wanna mess this up.” he looked at tony sadly, feeling his pain.

“get some more rest, guys. i’ll take care of him.”

with little resistance, the group returned to their positions, and were back out in no time. 

once steve had fallen asleep, tony eventually woke up. dazed and confused, he glanced around, trying to piece together where he was, what he was doing, and what was the surprisingly comfortable pillow he had been laying on. once he had realized  
what had happened, his heart dropped. his first instinct was to hide in embarrassment , or run, or put on his suit and fly home himself. but at this moment, he was cold. and tired. and steve was warm. so he didn’t much care. he placed his head on steve’s shoulder, and lie stiffly for a moment, before settling it. and, against all odds, a small smile appeared on his face.


End file.
